This article, which I obtained from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, had particularly useful information regarding our tuberculosis topic. Although the statistics are from 3 years ago, the patterns they draw from them over a 47 year period indicate an overall regression in the rate of tuberculosis amongst the Australian population. The major factor that caught my attention (in Figure 1) is the plateau in the incidence from around 1987-2007. The article even goes on to justify this further by plotting a graph that shows strong consistency in tuberculosis rates from 1998-2007. As you continue reading the article, you will find more statistics that indicate a higher incidence of tuberculosis in the Northern Territory over the other states in Australia. The authors of this article even go on to show massive differences in the rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The discussion section of the article clarifies any ambiguities that may have arisen from the data provided, but overall, I would say that it is very profound and comprehendable. I feel that this article will be very useful as a contribution to our final product as it can help justify and validate the use of Mantoux testing in the NT. Please let me know what you think as any feedback is essential. Thanks! :D
Hey Greg this article is particularly interesting especially in the number of incidences of tuberculosis and how it decresed since the 1960's with introduction of vaccinations this should definetly be used in our final showcase.
I found this video on YouTube. With regards to the final draft of our group project, I'm not sure that it will provide a major contribution, but it illustrates the pathophysiology of the herpes zoster virus in the human body. It uses diagrams and animations to aid in the understanding of the mechanism. It initially goes over how the herpes zoster virus causes chicken pox while remaining dormant in the dorsal root ganglion. It also briefly goes over the basic pathophysiology behind shingles and how the reactivation of HZV causes inflammation in the dorsal root ganglion, which creates an overall inhibition in nerve conduction. The video concludes by explaining how peripheral demyelination takes place. I found this video particularly useful because it gave a detailed, yet simple explanation of the basic pathophysiology of the HZV.
Greg, I came across this youtube link and thought it to be useful too. It goes straight into the pathophysiology of herpes zoster and outline what you would need to know for it. You should be able to embed the video into the page by going to widget-> video->youtube-> paste embed. Thuy
Thanks, Thuy, but unfortunately the user has disabled embedding of that video.
Appraisal #3 National Immunisation Program Schedule
I obtained this PDF version of the National Program Schedule provided by the Australian Government. It lists recommended vaccines by age group that are funded by the Immunise Australia Program. It does not provide any specifics for healthcare workers (we were already provided with a list of vaccinations for Northern Territory health workers). Looking through the list, I noticed that infants around 18 months of age are provided with a varicella zoster virus vaccine as well as young adolescents around 10-13 years of age. It does not list any TB vaccine coverage for the Australian public. In fact, a majority of the required vaccinations for health care employees are not funded and the cost centre of the employee is responsible for costs. In any case, this list can help by showing what vaccines the government chooses to cover most likely based on the prevalence of the disease in particular age groups.
Hey Greg, I also found this PDF and thought that it would be beneficial for the final showpiece. It could be used to introduce which vaccinations are recommended for all people, then we could use some other sources to focus the attention to HCW. Ross
That sounds like a good idea. It'll flow quite nicely if we set it up like that!
- Gregory
This article from the Australian Prescriber, although posted in 2005, recommends the VZV vaccine for anyone over the age of 12 months and for children between the ages of 1 and 13 years with no clinical history of varicella. It might explain why the government funds VZV vaccines in young adolescents of 10-13 years of age. If they have not had the virus by this age, it is important to immunise them.
Gregory Zori's Page
Appraisal #1
Tuberculosis notifications in Australia, 2007
This article, which I obtained from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, had particularly useful information regarding our tuberculosis topic. Although the statistics are from 3 years ago, the patterns they draw from them over a 47 year period indicate an overall regression in the rate of tuberculosis amongst the Australian population. The major factor that caught my attention (in Figure 1) is the plateau in the incidence from around 1987-2007. The article even goes on to justify this further by plotting a graph that shows strong consistency in tuberculosis rates from 1998-2007. As you continue reading the article, you will find more statistics that indicate a higher incidence of tuberculosis in the Northern Territory over the other states in Australia. The authors of this article even go on to show massive differences in the rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The discussion section of the article clarifies any ambiguities that may have arisen from the data provided, but overall, I would say that it is very profound and comprehendable. I feel that this article will be very useful as a contribution to our final product as it can help justify and validate the use of Mantoux testing in the NT. Please let me know what you think as any feedback is essential. Thanks! :D
Hey Greg this article is particularly interesting especially in the number of incidences of tuberculosis and how it decresed since the 1960's with introduction of vaccinations this should definetly be used in our final showcase.
Joanthan
Appraisal #2
HZV Pathophysiology
I found this video on YouTube. With regards to the final draft of our group project, I'm not sure that it will provide a major contribution, but it illustrates the pathophysiology of the herpes zoster virus in the human body. It uses diagrams and animations to aid in the understanding of the mechanism. It initially goes over how the herpes zoster virus causes chicken pox while remaining dormant in the dorsal root ganglion. It also briefly goes over the basic pathophysiology behind shingles and how the reactivation of HZV causes inflammation in the dorsal root ganglion, which creates an overall inhibition in nerve conduction. The video concludes by explaining how peripheral demyelination takes place. I found this video particularly useful because it gave a detailed, yet simple explanation of the basic pathophysiology of the HZV.
Greg, I came across this youtube link and thought it to be useful too. It goes straight into the pathophysiology of herpes zoster and outline what you would need to know for it. You should be able to embed the video into the page by going to widget-> video->youtube-> paste embed.
Thuy
Thanks, Thuy, but unfortunately the user has disabled embedding of that video.
Appraisal #3
National Immunisation Program Schedule
I obtained this PDF version of the National Program Schedule provided by the Australian Government. It lists recommended vaccines by age group that are funded by the Immunise Australia Program. It does not provide any specifics for healthcare workers (we were already provided with a list of vaccinations for Northern Territory health workers). Looking through the list, I noticed that infants around 18 months of age are provided with a varicella zoster virus vaccine as well as young adolescents around 10-13 years of age. It does not list any TB vaccine coverage for the Australian public. In fact, a majority of the required vaccinations for health care employees are not funded and the cost centre of the employee is responsible for costs. In any case, this list can help by showing what vaccines the government chooses to cover most likely based on the prevalence of the disease in particular age groups.
Hey Greg, I also found this PDF and thought that it would be beneficial for the final showpiece. It could be used to introduce which vaccinations are recommended for all people, then we could use some other sources to focus the attention to HCW.
Ross
That sounds like a good idea. It'll flow quite nicely if we set it up like that!
- Gregory
This article from the Australian Prescriber, although posted in 2005, recommends the VZV vaccine for anyone over the age of 12 months and for children between the ages of 1 and 13 years with no clinical history of varicella. It might explain why the government funds VZV vaccines in young adolescents of 10-13 years of age. If they have not had the virus by this age, it is important to immunise them.